This quarter, I chose to read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It takes place just before WWII in Germany, and follows the character Liesel Meminger's life of stealing books after her brother dies. Liesel is not the one who narrates, though. The narrator is someone who has been watching her at different points in her life "I saw the book thief (Liesel) three times" (5). The reader is not supposed to know who the narrator is yet, but they say that they will reveal themselves later in the novel. I don't know why Zusak would choose to have such a mysterious narrator, but I'm sure it will make for a good view point on Liesel's life.
We do know a few things about the narrator. Although we don't know if it is male or female, he/she does talk about some of their character traits. They seem to have a negative view on most things, such as death, but they also claim that "I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's" (3). These separate ideas about the character makes me wonder which part of him/her will dominate throughout the book: the negative or cheerful part. Seeing that the novel takes place during a sad and depressing time, my prediction is that it will most likely be the negative side of the narrator that comes through most strongly.
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6 comments:
Andrea, I am also reading this book for my outside reading. I also think that it's interesting that the narrator is a secret as of now. It seems to make the book more interesting because you have to solve the mystery of who the narrator actually is. I also wonder why the author would chose that sort of view point... probably to make things more interesting but we'll have to keep reading to see.
That is a really weird sounding narrator perspective. It would kill me deep inside to try and figure out who the narrator was. I probably would not stop reading until I did. Hopefully it turns out to be good!
Ooh, I definitely need to read this. The narrator sounds so entrancing-- they obviously have a very funky sense of humor and have read the thesaurus through themselves. I'd guess someone who isn't directly involved in the action-- maybe a child of rich birth, closed away somewhere, but with access to the everyday life of the poor. Sounds awesome, and I like the way you razored in on the mysterious person, the person that will probably make or break the novel. Very nice presentation!
I think it would very difficult to read the story with an unknown narrator, I would probably just read the end of the book, so I could figure out. Stealing books seems like an odd thing to do as a result of her brothers death, but I am sure she has a good reason. Good Job!
I like how you are putting the pieces together to figure out more about the narrator. I have read this book before (therefore, I know about the narrator) and think you bring up a lot of important details about the narrator. I also like your prediction on how the narrator's negative side will be more dominant, I think that is a good observation.
I've read this book in the past and absolutely loved it! The nararrator gives such a unique view of Liesel's life. Liesel seems to be an odd character but her story is very interesting. I hope you like this book as much as I did! :)
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